Category Archives: On the Lakes

Paddling the lakes in the many Kamloops area, some on main roads, but many in the backcountry too, and some more lakes found on our travels.

Reflections – Nicola Lake from Monck Park

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We camped at Monck Park and paddled Nicola Lake.    It can be a windy lake, but it can usually be paddled in the mornings.

monck-pano-1brOn this trip we paddled down the lake twice and up the lake once.    The shoreline south of the campground is more interesting.

monck-paddle

There are a number of rocky bluffs overlooking the lake and bays to explore.

img_6712r

Although we have paddled out across the lake, it is best to check the forecast first.    It is a big, windy lake and rough water can be found in the afternoons.

img_6710rOur favorite part of the lake is the north end, accessed from a pullout on Highway 5A.

More Information:

  • Nicola Lake North
  • A page will be developed then published over the winter proving general information on Nicola Lake.

 

Campbell Lake and Scuitto Lake

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Over the winter of 2022 – 2023, new pages will be added to the website with each page providing specific information (a summary guide) on the chosen lake.   Featured in this post are Campbell Lake and Scuitto Lake.

New pages were also added for these lakes – Heffley, Bleeker, community, Face, Glimpse, Isobel, Lac du Bois, Jacko, Little Shuswap, McGillivray, Lodgepole, Paska, Pat, Paul, Pillar, Pinantan, Red, Roche, Ross Moore, Stump, Sullivan, Surrey, Trapp, Tunkwa, Walloper Lake, and others.

See you on the water in March…

 

 

 

Paddling Desmond Lake

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Your first question will probably be. “Where’s Desmond Lake?”

You have probably spotted it from the Coquihalla Highway as you climb the hill toward Surrey Summit.    It lies below on the west side, a shallow, marshy lake on the Surrey Lake FSR.   There is no launch and only marshy, muddy shoreline.   A paddle around the shoreline is 2.2 km.

Much of the lake was shallow, but there were some marl shoals too, providing some clear water.    Two loons fished on the lake in the deep area on the east side.  Ducks and ducklings scuttled off as I paddled the shoreline.

It is probably rare for anyone to put a boat on this marshy lake:

I doubt I will paddle this one again, but I’m happy to have done it once…

 

Jacko Lake at the End of October

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By the end of October morning temperatures were cooler so monitoring forecasts for wind speeds is important.    Water temperatures take much longer to cool so as long as we dress appropriately, it is warm inside the kayak.    There were fishermen on the water on this cool fall morning.


Paddling around the lake, going into all the bays, takes just under an hour.

The morning sun was low on the horizon, filling the eastern skies.

Click an image for a lightbox view.

Paddling season is winding down now, but there prime fall days will resonate for weeks to come.

Reflections – On Scuitto Lake

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On a mid-October sunny morning, we paddled Scuitto Lake.   The lake levels had dropped quite a lot since spring from both evaporation and draw-down, but it was still a fine place to fish or paddle.

Early in the morning there was only one boat on the lake.    More fishermen arrived later.    All of them seemed to have some success on this fall day.

There is one larger island and two smaller ones.    One of the islands is completely below water in spring.    Along part of the southwestern side of the lake are a number of standing stumps.    In spring, swallows nest in holes in them.

Some of the stumps and roots would fit into a sculpture exhibit.

A page on Scuitto Lake will be developed over winter.   For now, we can reflect back to lakes we have paddled this year.

 

Paddling Morgan Lake

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When we hiked in the Six Mile Lakes area, we called Morgan Lake “The Slough.”    Before it was dammed it was a long marsh.    Now it is a popular fishing lake.   We drove in from the Tunkwa Lake Road.

We parked at the west end of the lake (by the old Trans Canada Highway track, now submerged below the lake.   there is a good hand launch there.   When we arrived there was no one on the lake, a rare occurrence in nice weather.

We had first paddled Leighton Lake then stopped down to do Morgan Lake too.   A paddle around the lake is only 2 km.

Another great day of paddling, the 86th day of 2022.

 

Paddling Leighton Lake

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Leighton Lake is located in Tunkwa Lake Provincial Park.    It is a popular fishing and camping destination in the warmer months.    The North Campground is used by off-road enthusiasts who use the backroads and ATV tracks of the area.    In mid-fall, though, it was a quiet spot.

On this day, I paddled once around the lake, then headed down the Tunkwa Lake Road and then paddled Morgan Lake.   Fall is a good time to paddle the lake.    It can be a busy spot for most of the fishing season.

Paddling from Adams Lake Provincial Park

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Bush Creek Campground is part of Adams Lake Provincial Park.    There is a good boat launch and a wide gravel beach.   Paddlers can paddle along the shoreline north or south or cross the lake and explore the shoreline.   Adams Lake is a large lake which can provide many days of paddling.

On the last day of September I paddled north along the shoreline and back, but there were some fine beaches to explore along the way.

The western shoreline has an interesting shoreline to explore.   Agate Bay was visible 10 km north.   The water was crystal clear and the lake was quiet.


A few cliffs extend down into the lake.    The sun was shining over the ridge as I paddled back to the park.


The park can be a busy spot in the summer, but in the fall it was a fine destination for a day’s paddle.

 

 

In the Pea Soup

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The low-elevation grassland lakes of the Interior get long days of sunshine and hot conditions and it is common to have algae multiply in these spots.   Trapp Lake was like pea soup near the end of September, but I paddled the lake anyway.


Though the lake was green and uninviting, the scenery around the lake was wonderful, and on a calm day, the reflections were perfect.

Most of the experience was captured in video:

Trapp has a number of pros (scenic, close to town, easy access, larger lake) and cons (highway noise and algae), but I enjoy paddling the lake, and in the future I will do that in the spring and skip late summer and early fall.

A Trapp Lake information page will be developed over the winter.

This was Day 77 of paddling in 2022.

 

Paddling Pillar Lake

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On a September day I drove to Falkland, then up the Chase Creek Road to Pillar Lake.   There is a BC Rec Site on the east side of the lake with a gravel boat launch.

At the start of the paddle there was no wind.    The Pillar Lake Resort is located on the hillside above the lake for about 200m, but there are no other homes along the lake.


The lake is narrow, but it is a nice relatively quiet spot to paddle.    The distance around the shoreline is about 4.6 km.


After paddling I secured the kayak, I hiked up the trail to The Pillar above:

 

Paddling Red Lake

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Red Lake is a longer drive on backroads so if we go there to paddle we wait for good conditions.    It is also a  popular fishing lake so there can be a lineup to launch or land during prime times.    For this reason I go to an informal launch on the south end of the lake.


A paddle around the entire lake is about 8.4 km so I often paddle about 5 km on either the north or the south end of the lake each time I head up there.

The north end of the lake has a lot of burned forest from the 2021 Sparks Lake Forest Fire.


This year the loop route was on the south end of the lake on a quiet weekday morning.

A Red Lake Page will be added to the website over the winter months.

 

Paddling Campbell Lake

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Campbell Lake is at the end of a long, bumpy road and it can be a busy spot in prime times so I try to paddle it off season.    Over the last few years, there have been pelicans on the lake in late August and much of September so I schedule my time to coincide with their time on the lake.   On a windy September morning I got an early start.

The pelicans are usually in shallow water.   Campbell Lake has a few large shallow bays which boats can’t get through.    A kayak can slowly cross the shallow, aquatic weed-thick water to approach the pelicans, but a long telephoto lens is still needed.

I watched the pelicans then paddled around the lake, spotting a heron, an eagle, some geese, and many ducks.   A paddle around the lake is about 8 km.

It was a windy day with difficult light for photography and videography, but I took some video clips, then flew the drone to put together a video:

The highlight of paddling the lake is to see the pelicans.    I hope to paddle out to them on Kamloops Lake again soon.

A Campbell Lake page will be developed over the winter with detailed information.

Back to Jacko Lake

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Whenever conditions are marginal or time is short, we pick one of four lakes – Jacko Lake, Edith Lake, Stake Lake, or Paul Lake.    The distance to the lakes is shorter, access is good to each lake, and they are enjoyable places to paddle.    On this September morning, it was raining in town, but it was drier up at the lake.

There was no wind and only one other boat on the lake.

Some of the shallow bays were partly grown-in with various aquatic plants, but they were also filled with waterfowl.   In this bay were about 70 coots and dabbling together.

There were 3 pelicans (see the video), a muskrat, two bald eagles, lots of marsh wrens, some mergansers, a gray jay, crows, magpies, and dragonflies.    The lake had dropped since the spring, but it still was a great paddle around the lake.

A few moments on the lake are captured in the video, including 3 pelicans on the water’s edge and then in the air:

More information on paddling this lake will be added over the winter as the Jacko Lake page.

 

Paddling the Roche Lake Marshes

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For some of the larger lakes, we can paddle half of the lake at a time, taking the time to explore the bays and marshy areas.    In the middle of September the paddle was on the north end of Roche Lake.

We can paddle the channels between bulrushes on the north end, then head down the west shore and across to the marshes on the east shore before coming back on the east shore.

Some moments of paddling the lake are captured in a video:

Earlier in the summer we paddled the south end of the lake, launching from the West Campground.    We will be back in the fall to hike the trails.